Without the wolves. PALI MEAURSAULT
(Entr’acte 2011)
For most glaciers, retreating and advancing are very slow occurrences, noticeable only over a long time.
“Redox”, the almost 24 minutes opening track of “Without the Wolves” by Pali Meursault, compresses time and opens up new spatial perspectives giving to the listeners the possibility to explore a wide range of sounds in a relatively short time span: timbres and dynamics continually change over the duration of the track, from water drops pointillistic symphonies to drone-like aquatic textures.
The piece is an extremely detailed montage where short shots are edited into sequences that aim to condense space, time, and information in order to suggest the passage of time, rather than to create symbolic meaning.
“Sans les loups” is a short (with respect to the other pieces of the disc) but very intense “interlude”: breathings, distant voices and sounds of melting snow fill up the stereo field in an extreme manner, in fact the almost independent audio channels create a concrete sense of motion.
The third and last track, “Foehn”, is a long immersion in the middle of a storm.
The sound of the extremely strong wind is enchanting and almost makes you feel tactile sensations.
The most impressive feature of the recordings is the crystalline quality of the sounds: it’s not an easy task to record wind noise in such detailed manner, retaining almost all of the characteristics of the original sounds.
The second half of the track is the more “musical” part of the record: resonant and slightly reverberated frequencies create a long and thrilling drone melody that add a new dimension to the first part of the record: a really nice game of contrasts.
Release notes:
Original recordings made in 2006 and 2007 during excursions to the French alps.
Redoux captures the melting of the Glacier de Bonnepierre;
Foehn is a recording of a storm in the Alpe de Villard-d’Arène.
-Elliot Loe
